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"Mulholland Drive"

I watched this again last night for the first time in years, and some of the images are still floating in my head today... whether all the pieces make sense or not (I think they don't), the overall story is still strong, given that it was a TV movie-pilot for a series and David Lynch went back later and cobbled it into a single movie.

Some of the images are stronger than anything he's done before or since, and the music is beautiful and truly haunting.

When you see it again, Naomi Watts' performance takes on a whole new depth of meaning; it's really an Oscar-level piece of acting. And Ann Miller's casting as the landlady becomes not just a campy hoot (which it is), but an important part of the story.

I'm sure some people find it pretentious, or just something David Lynch made up as he went along. But does anyone else like it?

(If you haven't seen it and you plan to, best to close this thread right now; the less you know going into "Mulholland Drive" the better.)

by Anonymousreply 143December 1, 2019 11:04 AM

[post by racist shit-stain # 2 removed.]

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by Anonymousreply 1December 9, 2012 2:04 AM

David Lynch sucks.

by Anonymousreply 2December 9, 2012 2:05 AM

Thanks, r1!

I know the old couple from the movie are going to get into my nightmares at some point.

by Anonymousreply 3December 9, 2012 2:35 AM

[post by racist shit-stain # 2 removed.]

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by Anonymousreply 4December 9, 2012 2:44 AM

Any movie that costars Ann Miller and Billy Ray Cyrus can only be genius.

by Anonymousreply 5December 9, 2012 2:45 AM

This is one of my favorite David Lynch movie scenes

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by Anonymousreply 6December 9, 2012 2:50 AM

Thanks, OP, I love M-H.

Naomi Watts is stunning in this.

And it has, at it's core, a heart breaking lesbian love story.

Baldalamenti's music is perfect.

Lynch has said that the best way to see the movie is like its a dream.

by Anonymousreply 7December 9, 2012 2:50 AM

I love it but it has some really slow spots. Lynch could have cut about 20 minutes and produced a masterpiece.

by Anonymousreply 8December 9, 2012 2:50 AM

Even with all of its terrible flaws, and there are many, Mulholland Drive is among my favorite movies. It's a mystery, a love story, a drama, a comedy all rolled into one. There are some very good actors in it doing some very fine work.

At least David Lynch attempted to do something serious, which is more than you can say for most directors in Hollywood today.

There is precious little intriguing material being done these days.

by Anonymousreply 9December 9, 2012 5:12 AM

I miss Ann Miller, she was a real hoot.

by Anonymousreply 10December 9, 2012 5:58 AM

OP, if you're in LA, visit Caesar's--it's where they shot the Winky's scene, including the back parking lot where the scary man with really bad teeth lives.

by Anonymousreply 11December 9, 2012 6:01 AM

Another huge fan here. Such a devastating movie. The dinner scene at the end where Laura Harring flaunts her relationship with Justin Theroux in Naomi Watts' face is excrutiating. I've lived that scene. Naomi Watts was AMAZING.

by Anonymousreply 12December 9, 2012 6:45 AM

Liked it a lot but always bugged me that it was failed ABC pilot -- so all that double life stuff was added in later. makes me wonder if Naomi Watts got damn lucky because her Betty character might've been bad cloying acting if she hadn't had the evil to balance it, make it all look intentional. And she didn't know about said evil side when she was giving original performance.

by Anonymousreply 13December 9, 2012 6:56 AM

I didn't know it was a pilot but I too love this movie. I have no idea what's going on when I watch it though. That's what makes I special though. Would someone like to attempt to explain it?

by Anonymousreply 14December 9, 2012 7:02 AM

It's in my top five. It was not a pilot. I have no idea where OP got that.

by Anonymousreply 15December 9, 2012 7:07 AM

Movie titles that are streets in LA:

SUNSET BOULEVARD MULLOLLAND DRIVE LAUREL CANYON CLOVERFIELD HANCOCK MAGNOLIA

Am I missing anyone? Of course, TV has Melrose Place

by Anonymousreply 16December 9, 2012 7:08 AM

OP got that it was a pilot... because it was a pilot. Almost any review of it will mention that at least in passing.

by Anonymousreply 17December 9, 2012 7:11 AM

It was definitely a pilot, R15. You're an idiot. A basic search on the Internet would tell you that. It was rejected and he turned it into a movie. I would have loved to see it as a TV show, but it will always be a classic piece of cinema now. It's in the top 5 movies (if not #1) of the 2000s.

by Anonymousreply 18December 9, 2012 7:12 AM

I haven't seen this film in at least ten years, but it's so unforgettable that I won't have to watch it again to be all over this thread.

And the fact that Naomi Watts didn't even get nominated for an Oscar is the gold standard of proof that the AMPAS has its collective head up its ass.

by Anonymousreply 19December 9, 2012 7:14 AM

Naomi Watts simply gave one of the best screen performances ever. I'm not much of a fan of Lynch, but she just blew me away.

by Anonymousreply 20December 9, 2012 8:06 AM

Is it true that Watts had anal with Lynch for the part?

I also heard that he made Heather Wilson take it in the rear.

by Anonymousreply 21December 9, 2012 8:10 AM

I couldn't ever get into it, which surprised me because I'd seen all of Lynch's previous stuff and liked most of it. He lost me on Mulholland and don't think I've ever seen any of his newer movies, like the one about the rabbits.

by Anonymousreply 22December 9, 2012 8:27 AM

R21 the Republican congresswoman from New Mexico?

by Anonymousreply 23December 9, 2012 8:51 AM

Naomi Watts can't act for shit. She was good at playing a terrible, terrible, hopelessly bad actress. Shocker.

by Anonymousreply 24December 9, 2012 8:52 AM

The scene with the guy behind the trash dumpster!

by Anonymousreply 25December 9, 2012 9:34 AM

I think R21 means Heather Graham.

by Anonymousreply 26December 9, 2012 9:40 AM

where have you heard that R21?

by Anonymousreply 27December 9, 2012 9:42 AM

Masterpiece. Nothing less.

by Anonymousreply 28December 9, 2012 10:03 AM

OP, you should check out Inland Empire - absolutely haunting and another Lynch masterpiece.

by Anonymousreply 29December 9, 2012 10:10 AM

Can I just say. I know what you mean, OP when you say Naomi Watts' performance was "Oscar level." But it seems like most Oscar nominees aren't "Oscar level." Oscars nominations are populated by performances from actors who just "show up".

For example, Jennifer Lawrence is a good actress who hasn't "ripened" yet. That's not a condition of her age necessarily, but more of acting chops. She is still "finding it." Yet, she's touted as this year's one to beat.

It's more about The Hunger Games franchise, and the enormous egos of Harvey Weinstein & David O Russell. Her performance is just a little above average, and Silver Linings Playbook is just another romantic comedy. Nothing unique about it.

How can anyone compare her to Marion Cotillard or Naomi Watts or Rachel Weisz. She's not in the same league.

by Anonymousreply 30December 9, 2012 10:39 AM

Love this movie and the soundtrack both re so haunting. And agree the scene where Camilla is flaunting her relationship with Adam and then kisses the other blonde actress is painful to watch. You can actually feel your own chest tightening and stomach sinking.

by Anonymousreply 31December 9, 2012 5:19 PM

[quote]I didn't know it was a pilot but I too love this movie. I have no idea what's going on when I watch it though. That's what makes I special though. Would someone like to attempt to explain it?

I can try -- based on the best guesses of critics and what I saw.

But: major, MAJOR spoilers ...

.

.

.

.

The "real" part of the movie is the last 30 minutes, and everything that happened previously was a dream of Naomi Watts' character (not the plucky young actress of the first part, but the desperate failed lesbian actress of the end).

(Rather than try to separate Diane/Betty and Rita/Camilla, I'll just refer ot them as Naomi and Laura....)

On a second viewing, the clues are there; after the opening jitterbug sequence, you see someone in a bed tossing and turning (later, it's revealed to be Naomi's bed) before the next shot. It happens so quickly that it fades from memory immediately.

When you see the first part of the movie through the lens of a dream, it makes more sense: Naomi comes to L.A., gets a slightly surreal "classic" Hollywood apartment right off the bat, and is proved a brilliant actress on her first audition. Her relationship with Laura Harring goes from best friend to Nancy Drew girls to tender lesbian lovers.

The Hollywood at the end of the movie is shot flatly and undreamily; it's ugly and unglamorous. When you see Naomi and Laura having sex "for real," it's much less idealized and more like workaday porn. And when Naomi hires the man to kill Laura, you realize that she dreamed this fantasy about her Hollywood career and their relationship because she couldn't handle the truth -- Laura had just had a brief affair with her, but her real love was Justin Theroux, and she had the career Naomi wanted.

Of course, there are still unresolved threads and images... the blue box and the blue key are never explained and the horrible bum/monster behind the dumpster is more of a symbol than a character.

When I watched it again, I was struck by how many times the characters repeated "You don't get to pick the girl" and variations thereof, as well as the phrase "This is the girl."

On first view, it doesn't have much import. On second watching, the repetition becomes the theme of the movie. Naomi DOESN'T get to pick the girl, and "This is the girl" becomes a mantra: You don't ever really see the person right in front of you when you're in love.

At least that's what I got. I'm sure some other DLers have other details and interpretations.

by Anonymousreply 32December 9, 2012 7:25 PM

SPOILERS:

The "real world" sex scene between Laura and Naomi on the couch is very raw and cold in a "straight porn for men" way. It is not idealized and romantic as in the dream. When Laura rejects her right then and there for the director, Naomi tried to forcefully finger-fuck her until she is pushed off. A minute or so later, Naomi is seen violently fingering herself in some kind of haze in a VERY unerotic scene. It's as if the male gaze of Hollywood has burned through her dreamworld and left her with nothing. Hence her wish-fulfillment dream of Justin Theroux (the director) get his ass handed back to him by Billy Ray Cyrus (the boyfriend fucking her). She also needs to punish both male and female sexuality by having the mob goon beat the shit out of both the director's wife and Billy later on in the film. The goon is Nemesis (revenge) going after the sexuality of those who betrayed her and also attacking her own gullibility at being taken advantage of.

Naomi looks gorgeous in the scene where Justin kisses Laura on the set. Check out her glaze of tears--a deliberate 40's style cinematic technique that represents her dreamworld literally pouring away through her eyes.

by Anonymousreply 33December 9, 2012 7:44 PM

"Diane Selwyn" was named after Edgar Selwyn, one of the inventors of Hollywood; a producer who was screwed out of his holdings by Samuel Goldwyn. So the name "Selwyn" evokes a loser in the Hollywood rat race, the theme of this film.

Now, can someone tell me the significance of the title? I've driven over Mulholland Drive, and it seems chiefly noteable for its sweeping views of the San Fernando Valley.

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by Anonymousreply 34December 9, 2012 7:51 PM

Here's the sequence where Betty goes to the set where they're screentesting the "I Told Every Little Star" musical number.

It's just perfect -- Justin Theroux is shooting a movie within a movie, while an aspiring actress is mouthing the words to an old pop song about not telling someone you're in love with them, which is the theme of Diane's dream.

Then studio goons come in and force Theroux to say the words "This is the girl" -- right before Naomi Watts enters, looking like a stunningly beautiful Hitchcock ingenue among all the others on the set.

In one look, it's clear Theroux desires her, and not just for his movie... but she's not the girl.

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by Anonymousreply 35December 9, 2012 8:07 PM

I don't think everything in Mullholland Drive needs to make sense in the way one expects a typical narrative film to make sense. What's important is that the images are compelling and provoke thought and emotion. Which is what separates movies like Mullholland Drive and Melancholia from pretentious pieces of shit like The Master and The Tree of Life.

by Anonymousreply 36December 9, 2012 8:10 PM

Bump

by Anonymousreply 37December 10, 2012 1:53 AM

I have to wonder if this did go to series if Naomi Watts would be known more as a TV actress or a film actress. And what ever happened to Laura Harring?

by Anonymousreply 38December 10, 2012 3:55 AM

What, no mention of Chad Everett? He may have been getting on in years but he was still hot as hell.

by Anonymousreply 39December 10, 2012 4:13 AM

[quote]I have to wonder if this did go to series if Naomi Watts would be known more as a TV actress or a film actress. And what ever happened to Laura Harring?

I don't know... but reading up on the making of the movie after I put up the original post, I found that ABC didn't like the casting of either Naomi or Laura, which is astonishing and baffling. They were perfect in the roles, and both drop-dead stunning.

Still think there's no reason they shouldn't have at least been nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress (though Naomi Watts did sweep many critics' polls).

by Anonymousreply 40December 10, 2012 4:25 AM

touching film in so many ways

by Anonymousreply 41December 10, 2012 4:27 AM

R38- I think that about a lot of actors. Josh Brolin was in a failed 2005 FOX pilot called Murder Book. If that had been a hit, he'd probably just be David Boreanaz and not the Oscar nominated film star he is now. And Jeremy Renner had a show (The Unusuals?) a few years ago that ran about 7 episodes. Again, if that had been a hit, would he have been nominated for an Oscar for Hurt Locker that he had already shot? Or would he not have been taken seriously as a film actor. I bet not. And he certainly wouldn't have grown into the worldwide action hero star he is now.

by Anonymousreply 42December 10, 2012 4:35 AM

A lot of people, I think maybe even Ebert, have speculated that Lynch never intended it to be a series, it was just a ruse to get funding for the movie. The "pilot" was way too weird for tv and Lynch knew it, he was just using them to fund the movie.

by Anonymousreply 43December 10, 2012 4:56 AM

[quote]I don't know... but reading up on the making of the movie after I put up the original post, I found that ABC didn't like the casting of either Naomi or Laura, which is astonishing and baffling. They were perfect in the roles, and both drop-dead stunning.

ABC thought they looked too old - they were quite a bit older than the women they portrayed. Naomi was playing early 20s and was early 30s at the time, while Laura Harring was 37.

by Anonymousreply 44December 10, 2012 6:07 AM

Should be required viewing for anyone who wants to go to Hollywood and become a "star."

by Anonymousreply 45December 10, 2012 6:42 AM

[quote]ABC thought they looked too old - they were quite a bit older than the women they portrayed. Naomi was playing early 20s and was early 30s at the time, while Laura Harring was 37.

Amazing Hollywood logic. I can barely see the objection to Naomi Watts based on the age in the script (though she did it with no problem), but ABC thought Laura Harring was over the hill for their audience? Yeah, just look at this hideous old hag.

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by Anonymousreply 46December 10, 2012 4:52 PM

r46 again - Judging from photos online, Laura Harring's weight has gone up and down a lot over the years.

Here she is in January 2012 at a benefit for the David Lynch Foundation.

Her biography states she grew up in a small town in Mexico, went to boarding school in Switzerland, and married "Count Carl-Eduard von Bismarck" while she was young. He was a member of the German parliament.

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by Anonymousreply 47December 10, 2012 6:40 PM

Laura Haring had the worst breast implants!

by Anonymousreply 48December 10, 2012 6:47 PM

So what is behind Winky's? A really rough bum?

by Anonymousreply 49December 11, 2012 3:40 AM

Chad Everett should have won the Oscar, not boring Naomi Watts.

by Anonymousreply 50December 11, 2012 3:50 AM

fascinating film

by Anonymousreply 51December 11, 2012 4:24 AM

None of the actors in this movie won (or were even nominated for) an Oscar, you silly twat @ R50.

by Anonymousreply 52December 11, 2012 5:17 AM

That's former Miss USA Laura Herring, thank you -- one of the first to make the crossover from pageants to acting (right before Halle, also beat by a Miss Texas). I think the TV series would've been VERY different -- more of the director (now Mr. Anniston), more of the hitman who keeps shooting the wrong people, etc. So who knows if Naomi would've made any impact -- or been Sherilyn Fenn, at best. Where luck comes in, I guess.

by Anonymousreply 53December 11, 2012 5:31 AM

Fucking great movie. One if the all time greats and makes a great double feature with SUNSET BLVD. Can't believe no one has mentioned the Club Silenco scene.

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by Anonymousreply 54December 11, 2012 5:42 AM

A friend of mine used to cringe at the way she pronounced her own name: "LOWL-ra". Funny, her last name has been spelled a dozen different ways here too including wrongly by me.

by Anonymousreply 55December 11, 2012 7:00 AM

but did watts fuck lynch to get the part??

anyone know?

by Anonymousreply 56December 11, 2012 7:17 AM

I always thought there was some connection between the bum behind Winky's and the character Lee Grant played - the one who came to Betty's door and told her bad things were happening in the apartment. She looked like a cleaned up version of the bum.

by Anonymousreply 57December 11, 2012 7:22 AM

[quote]A lot of people, I think maybe even Ebert, have speculated that Lynch never intended it to be a series, it was just a ruse to get funding for the movie. The "pilot" was way too weird for tv and Lynch knew it, he was just using them to fund the movie.

The pilot was indeed shot and shelved for over a year. It took Lynch a lot of time to find the money to buy it back. If he hadn't done that we would have never seen it. Ebert is a moron.

Here's a New Yorker article about the making of the pilot and ABC's canning of it.

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by Anonymousreply 58December 11, 2012 2:27 PM

'Mulholland Dr.' is the best film of David Lynch. There is nothing redundant in this movie. All the images have a special meaning and yet they are not approached so much by common logic, but mostly you can reach them with your intuition and feelings.

Ecstatic, tragic, lovely, bizarre, tender, sarcastic, dreamy, sad, heartbreaking,melodic, mysterious, BEAUTIFUL.

I will never get over this movie and i'm happy for this. I believe that many people feel the same after watching this masterpiece.

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by Anonymousreply 59December 11, 2012 4:10 PM

After Wild at Heart I swore I would never go to another David Lynch movie. Ugh. And then Mulholland Drive came along and I was stunned. It was so beautifully shot and had a story that was impossible to fully understand yet you couldn't take your eyes off the screen. Masterful. I remember going online afterwards to figure it out and how everything fell into place when you realized the whole first part of the movie is Watts' dream life and the last part is her reality. Laura Harring was absolutely GORGEOUS in that movie. The dreamy love scene between Harring and Watts was so erotic.

by Anonymousreply 60December 11, 2012 4:17 PM

.

by Anonymousreply 61December 31, 2012 9:53 PM

Any movies similar to Mulholland Dr.?

Please don't mention other David Lynch films, because i have seen them all.

I also googled similar movies to Mulholland Drive and ffs most of those movies were not really similar!

Any suggestions?

by Anonymousreply 62March 31, 2013 4:50 PM

It's not about lesbianism at all- that's just a metaphor. She has a 'crush' that stems from envy.

Most of the movie is the abstract dream of a failed actress.

It's about getting chewed-up by Hollywood and spat out onto the "Boulevard of Broken Dreams". The grievous rejection you must constantly endure to be a working actor. Wondering why another actor was chosen over you.

If she had lived, she would have ended up as Jane Fonda's character in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", saying lines like: "Central Casting has it all rigged before you ever show up" or "Maybe I've been playing up to the wrong sex in this town...".

by Anonymousreply 63March 31, 2013 5:57 PM

This needs to be a musical. If only SMASH weren't going to be cancelled Mulholland Drive the musical could be the next show they are casting! Ivy and Karen both get a starring role and they can have sex!!!

by Anonymousreply 64March 31, 2013 6:22 PM

R62, it is not "similar," but you might like "Les Enfants du Paradis."

by Anonymousreply 65March 31, 2013 7:14 PM

I saw MD when I was working in Munich, at a little English-language movie theatre near the Deutsches Museum. I saw a late-night screening and was the only person in the theatre, which I recall also had a replica of the Statue Of David to one side of the movie screen.

In retrospect, I can't imagine a more perfectly bizarre scenario in which to see the film and I think it added to my love.

by Anonymousreply 66March 31, 2013 7:27 PM

No movies like Mulholland Drive.

We need masterpieces! We are full of mediocre stuff as it comes to cinema, music and literature.

*pukes

by Anonymousreply 67April 19, 2013 6:09 PM

I love this photo as well

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by Anonymousreply 68August 26, 2013 11:02 AM

R62, American Horror Story is a mystery TV show with dreamlike horror sequences.

by Anonymousreply 69August 26, 2013 11:21 AM

I understand why Lynch can't make another movie. After Mulholland Dr, what more he could possibly give?

I have never seen anything similar. It surpasses all the movies i have seen and actually they are a whole lot!

It's not just the lines or the direction or the acting. It's not just some tricks of the light. Everything fits perfectly and not in a common way. There is still space for emotions, mystery and magic even when you receive the picture. You feel the movie, you don't simply view it. It strikes you again and again! Every time i watch it (and i think it's more than ten times until now) it gets under my skin.

I don't think that a movie could ever achieve what Mulholland Drive did. Usually in movies, we love the movie for some parts of it or for some lines. In Mulholland Dr. everything is needed and is so vital. It's an entity itself, it doesn't rely on the power of a few scenes. All the moments of this film have a a cause, they don't just pass you by.

I liked Inland Empire as well, i love Lynch's movies in general, but i don't think that any of them is better than M.D.

Mulholland Drive combines the harmony and the mystery perfectly. It fits all the way.

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by Anonymousreply 70August 26, 2013 11:33 AM

R32, I got chills just from reading what you wrote.

Mulholland Drive is such a hauting masterpierce. A film I wasn't expecting at all, saw it maybe two years after it opened, and it just blew me away... The first time i didn't "get" any of it, except that I got everything... It works on a subconscious level I guess, it's so well done everything works emotionally and even logically, and you can still be entranced in it even without clearly understanding it...

Knowing the story, it is such a nightmare... I'm glad I knew so little going in. That movie truly is a sleeper.

And the music...

by Anonymousreply 71August 26, 2013 11:46 AM

R35, the reason why I ened up watching this movie was because they kept showing that scene (I've Told Every Little Star) over and over and over again in the DVD shop where I used to go. I ended up being very curious and watched the film to see what it was all about. The screenshot of the Naomi/Laura kiss that has so often been used repelled me initially.

by Anonymousreply 72August 26, 2013 11:50 AM

For those who loved the movie, this is the best site that has been made for Mulholland Dr. so far

It covers everything.

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by Anonymousreply 73August 26, 2013 4:02 PM

David Lynch is a full-blooded Cro-Magnon who is pushing his Cro-Magnon agenda.

As far as he is concerned, those of us with Neanderthal DNA can all just go to hell in a hand basket.

It's not fair, and all of the accolades he receives reveals where Hollywood's mind is at.

by Anonymousreply 74August 26, 2013 4:12 PM

R74 i can't even appreciate your humor...i wonder if you find what you wrote clever. Really!

by Anonymousreply 75August 26, 2013 4:16 PM

I consider myself a cinephile, but I thought this movie was a pretentious piece of crap. If it didn't have Lynch's name attached to it, people wouldn't be so afraid to admit that they hate it.

I would rather watch White Chicks again than Mulholland Dr.

by Anonymousreply 76August 26, 2013 4:20 PM

Um, R75, David Lynch is a known skinny-fatter, a common trait among Cro-Magnons.

Um, Those with Neanderthal DNA are muscular.

Um, which one looks better?

by Anonymousreply 77August 26, 2013 4:20 PM

I've heard that David Lynch has those weird skinny old man bat wings LOL.

by Anonymousreply 78August 26, 2013 4:28 PM

R76, with all due respect i don't think you understood the movie. Unfortunately you didn't feel it either. But it's ok, to each their own.

R69 thanks for answering my question. You are the minority, because except for you, only a person had the kindness to answer it. I appreciate it. However, i just googled American Horror Story. I saw some trailers of it on YouTube and what i saw is not my cup of tea. It seems too sensational, without a deeper meaning. Lynch is not just a sensationalist. That's the difference. He combines meditation with art and feelings in his pictures and Mulholland Dr was the only movie he did that he admitted that he used meditation before shooting a lot of scenes of it. Usually ideas come to him while working, but with Mulholland Drive he was very meditative and hopefully it seems so! Mulholland Dr is the masterpiece of masterpieces! It has logic, not in an ordinary way but in a divine, carmic way. Its dreaming qualities and its poignancy chill the viewer. That happens because the movie is not just sensationalism as R76 implied that it is. Actually there is nothing pretentious about Mulholland Dr. Everything fits and it is so painful and yet...so real and dreamy simultaneously! I LOVE IT SO MUCH! And i'm not the only one! It's a movie that has been loved a lot. It deserved the attention it got. Lynch surpassed himself with MD. He gave everything in it.

R65, maybe someday i'll see "Les Enfants du Paradis." I'm not in the mood for it yet. Thank you too, for answering though!

by Anonymousreply 79August 26, 2013 4:54 PM

I still adores it!

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by Anonymousreply 80September 22, 2013 12:34 PM

*ADORE IT

by Anonymousreply 81September 22, 2013 12:36 PM

[quote]Any movies similar to Mulholland Dr.?

r69, there's a Korean movie based on a folktale called "Tale of Two Sisters" that reminded me very much of Mulholland Drive in some ways. Very dreamlike, beautiful and creepy repetition of visual motifs, you're often not sure of what's real or imagined, and the narrative seems almost to split or disintegrate in the middle. Very interesting film.

The entire thing is on YouTube, and Netflix has it, as well:

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by Anonymousreply 82September 22, 2013 12:58 PM

Thanks a lot for your recommendation R82.

I'll definitely watch it this week

:)

by Anonymousreply 83September 22, 2013 1:42 PM

I love Mulholland Dr also. A haunting, multi-layered masterpiece, that Lynch himself says was not meant to be interpreted in any specific way. It works more like a dream.

If someone is still looking for "similar" recommendations, I'll mention "ENTER THE VOID". Not really similar (after what could be?) but haunting and even moving in similar ways

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by Anonymousreply 84September 22, 2013 1:51 PM

*hugs R84

by Anonymousreply 85September 22, 2013 3:07 PM

Lynch's best film, in my opinion. It holds up very well, especially in this social media driven age of "fame at all costs".

by Anonymousreply 86September 22, 2013 3:17 PM

David Lynch is the only true original in American cinema today. It sucks that he can't get money for his films here. It's also very telling about the state of film financing in the US (let's make more dumb movies for the masses!).

by Anonymousreply 87September 22, 2013 3:25 PM

I have never hated a movie more that this disjointed mess. I'm not surprised if he cannot get his projects produced. There is a small audience for art films. Andy Warhol would not have been able to get big budget financing for his work either.

by Anonymousreply 88September 22, 2013 3:39 PM

You're so linear, R88.

by Anonymousreply 89September 22, 2013 4:04 PM

R82 i finally saw 'A Tale of Two Sisters'. Well, yes, the direction and the cinematography are amazing, the colors and the pictures of this film are really impeccable and dreamlike. However, i didn't like the story. The script lacked the depth, the meaning and the magic of 'Mulholland Drive'. In Mulholland Drive everything fits in a magical, beautiful and threatening way.

In 'A Tale of Two Sisters' that doesn't happen. The 'twists' here, most of the time seem stilted and decorous and the horror moments unfortunately are typical of many Asian horror movies. On the other hand, despite the script, the actors used in A Tale of Two Sisters were very interesting to watch and they delivered well their parts.

If this film was based on a better story and script, it could have been a great movie, but unfortunately that doesn't happen in spite of the excellent direction and the beauty of its colors. In general, this problematic exists in most Asian movies. The scripts are always their weak point. They always end up too common, even if the cinematography and the direction are splendid.

Anyway, thank you again for your recommendation R82. It was an interesting film to watch despite its uneven plot.

by Anonymousreply 90September 25, 2013 12:03 PM

[all posts by flame bait troll #11 removed (violent racist homophobic right-wing misogynist), ISP notified with full text of all posts.]

by Anonymousreply 91September 25, 2013 1:02 PM

I put this in my Netflix queue because of this thread, and I just watched it again. So many things become apparent when you see it after a long break - the significance of the blue key, Camilla's attempts to be kind to Diane, Betty's glowing pink sweater and Diane's faded pink bathrobe, etc. And the makeovers... in the first part, Betty makes over Rita, and gives her short blonde hair like her own. In the second part, Diane is always looking washed out because she wears Camilla's signature crimson.

So... anyone wanna tell me what the fuck was up with the Cowboy?

by Anonymousreply 92October 29, 2013 7:16 AM

r92 We see The Cowboy 2 more times, indicating that things did not go well and that Naomi Watts character is all that failing in Hollywood represents. Great movie!

by Anonymousreply 93October 30, 2013 3:31 AM

Laura Harring got married secretly!

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by Anonymousreply 94November 27, 2013 10:48 AM

Laura Harring is perhaps the most beautiful woman of all time. Absolutely ravishing and enchanting. If she didn't put on weight she would be a goddess.

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by Anonymousreply 95November 27, 2013 2:26 PM

A masterpiece of a movie. It cannot be repeated.

by Anonymousreply 96December 5, 2013 2:33 PM

I'd seen the comparison but never bought it until I saw this film the other day: Katharine McPhee looks like a hotter, less ethnic Laura Harring.

by Anonymousreply 97December 5, 2013 2:39 PM

Interesting comparison R97. However, Laura Harring's face is far more expressive than Katharine's.

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by Anonymousreply 98December 5, 2013 2:57 PM

David Lynch we need your magic touch again. Wake up! Nobody does it like you do.

by Anonymousreply 99December 22, 2013 11:59 AM

Seven years since Inland Empire. When is this guy going to make a new movie?

by Anonymousreply 100December 22, 2013 12:18 PM

I also wonder why David Lynch doesn't get focused on doing movies again. Movies is obviously his field and not music, or his other hobbies that he seems to have taken so seriously at the expense of his movie career.

When David combines movies with his other hobbies, he is a genius. There, he can be unique, not anywhere else. He shouldn't stop doing movies. It's too soon. Of course, i don't think that he can make a movie to be more perfect than Mulholland Drive, but he can create beautiful and powerful films, i'm very sure about that.

by Anonymousreply 101December 23, 2013 11:24 AM

Why films cannot be as perfect as Mulholland Dr? Why is that so difficult to achieve perfection...? I'm tired of just good films, i need movies that can be true experiences for the viewer. Mulholland Dr is that kind of a movie. I will never forget it, i can't get enough of it, i still love it and view it with the same enthusiasm every time i decide to see it again.

by Anonymousreply 102January 1, 2014 1:23 PM

Lynch recently had a casting call for what appears to be additional material for the 25th anniversary Blu-Ray edition of "Twin Peaks."

However, in the show the "dream" Laura Palmer tells Agent Cooper she'll see him again in 25 years -- and there's been speculation that Lynch may do another TP movie, if not a TV series. Most of the actors are still alive and working.

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by Anonymousreply 103January 12, 2014 4:38 PM

Amen R103! I really miss David Lynch's touch.

by Anonymousreply 104January 12, 2014 5:34 PM

Because we're discussing David Lynch on another thread.

by Anonymousreply 105February 19, 2014 5:25 AM

That's a repulsive read at R58. No wonder there is so much crap on TV.

If anything good, original does make it on the air it must be strictly by accident.

I love this movie too. I was just instantly drawn into it and loved taking the ride. I've seen it a few times and I cannot look at 1 minute of it without wanting to keep watching.

Watt's performance just kind of sears into you. But everybody is great in it.

by Anonymousreply 106February 19, 2014 7:29 AM

R10, hi, Taylor S.:)

by Anonymousreply 107February 19, 2014 7:56 AM

Oops, meant r12.

by Anonymousreply 108February 19, 2014 9:01 AM

for the poster who asked for a movie "similar" to MD the answer is obviously Bergman's "Persona"

by Anonymousreply 109October 23, 2014 5:53 PM

Excellent call, R109.

The problem with recommending a film like Mulholland Drive is that there's really no other film like it. That's part of what makes it so amazing.

Lynch has said that he hasn't made another film since IE because he hasn't found material that interests him. It sucks, but I respect him for abstaining instead of trying to keep in cranking out movies after the creative well has run dry. Hopefully he will find something else to inspire him.

We moved to LA a few years after Mulholland Drive was released. It lent a fabulous, eerie glamour to the city. I don't think that I would see see LA the same way if not for MD. The real Mulholland Drive does have twisty, two-lane sections up in the hills, cut out of the mountain and surrounded by chaparalle, the kind that Rita wanders into after the car accident. It gets foggy up there in winter.

We saw Inland Empire at the WeHo Laemmle on Xmas Eve and found ourselves on an elevator with Eli Roth afterward. LA is a strange place.

My husband worked in the film industry and has a bunch of weird celebrity spotting stories (including almost getting hit by Paris Hilton in an SUV). He is adamant about never approaching celebrities--it is a big faux pas in any context when you are in that field. The one exception he made was Grace Zabriskie, who played Laura Palmer's mom. He saw her in a parking lot and offered to help her because she was limping, and slipped in a compliment about how much he loved her work. I love celebrity celebrity encounters like that. I would much rather meet someone like her than Angelina Jolie.

Another film that captures a very specific aspect of LA is Bladerunner. I LOVE the part of the city where some of the most famous sequences were shot, around Grand Central Market and the Bradbury Building.

Looking forward to the new Twin Peaks.

by Anonymousreply 110October 24, 2014 7:00 AM

[quote]The one exception he made was Grace Zabriskie, who played Laura Palmer's mom. He saw her in a parking lot and offered to help her because she was limping, and slipped in a compliment about how much he loved her work.

How did she respond?

by Anonymousreply 111October 24, 2014 7:31 AM

R111, I just asked my husband. He really debated about approaching her. He finally said, "excuse me!" and she startled, he felt bad. I think she is kind of high strung. She was gracious and asked him if he watched Big Love (she was in it at the time). He said that he hadn't seen it yet, she told him he should watch it.

I met Russ Tamblyn, who was also in Twin Peaks. Very sweet man.

We would both *love* to meet Piper Laurie, both because of Twin Peaks and Carrie...maybe someday.

by Anonymousreply 112October 24, 2014 8:26 AM

Why David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive Is a Great Horror Film:

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by Anonymousreply 113October 24, 2014 1:15 PM

Thrilling and horrifying

by Anonymousreply 114October 24, 2014 1:45 PM

One of my favorite movies of all time. Naomi Watts was BRILLIANT and deserved Best Actress in a walkover. That she wasn't even nominated and lost to Halle Berry is absolutely ludicrous.

by Anonymousreply 115October 25, 2014 1:49 AM

OMG: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ACTRESS WHO PLAYED THE BUM!!

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by Anonymousreply 116October 31, 2014 9:52 PM

I always hated the fact that Justin Theroux is the first name on the opening credits. this is 200% a NAOMI WATTS movie. Alas she was basically an unknow at the time. But watching those credits today is weird.

by Anonymousreply 117September 13, 2015 9:45 PM

Just got here in 2018, 3 years after the previous post, via a link from a related thread. I have enjoyed the comments about this great film, and when I just now read the one about a double bill with Sunset Blvd., something struck me. I think that in some ways, MD has a strong similarity to Vertigo. They both have a very dreamlike quality. Both have a two-part structure, in which the second part serves as a commentary on the first and reveals a disturbing and harsher alternate version of the lead female character. Through Stewart's tailing of Novak, Vertigo revisits Hitchcock's voyeurism (Rear Window, Psycho, later) and MD, set in Hollywood, deals with the idea of the camera's gaze.

by Anonymousreply 118April 25, 2018 12:21 AM

R110 "...almost getting hit by Paris Hilton in an SUV..."

That happens to a lot of people.

by Anonymousreply 119April 25, 2018 12:40 AM

Forgive me for not reading the comments. I am not a Lynch fan per se. But I love this movie and the fact Watts didn't win the Oscar is a shame.

by Anonymousreply 120April 25, 2018 12:42 AM

Agree. I'm R118, and, after my big "revelation," googled to find I'm hardly the first.

by Anonymousreply 121April 25, 2018 12:51 AM

"Crying" was Rebekah Del Rio's one and only take. Impressive.

by Anonymousreply 122April 25, 2018 1:17 AM

Naomi Watts' audition scene with Chad Everett....I've never seen anything like it. I never will.

by Anonymousreply 123April 25, 2018 1:27 AM

Love this movie. It’s especially wonderful if watching while high or under the influence of pharmaceuticals.

by Anonymousreply 124April 25, 2018 1:38 AM

R123, and what makes it especially amazing is the contrast to the way she had rehearsed it earlier, in a rather facile way. The two versions almost are a microcosm of the two parts of the film, one much grittier than the other.

by Anonymousreply 125April 25, 2018 1:50 AM

[quote]"Crying" was Rebekah Del Rio's one and only take. Impressive.

I still remember seeing this in the theater for the first time and getting unearthly chills. You can just feel the movie switching to some darker, subterranean place.

by Anonymousreply 126April 25, 2018 2:02 AM

Best of Lynch’s career. And you don’t have to wear the wig in the house.

by Anonymousreply 127April 25, 2018 2:08 AM

Masterpiece

by Anonymousreply 128January 1, 2019 1:38 AM

I like the film, it's not as clever as it thinks it is. It's not as deep upon multiple viewings. Ultimately, it's a poor movie because it the unsophisticated 'it was all a dream' story. Once you know the film, for the bulk, is a dream, with the juxtaposition of real life tagged onto the end, it is a rather lazy and weak resolution.

Sometimes, there's no there, there.

by Anonymousreply 129January 1, 2019 2:04 AM

One of those movies where I can't explain why it's so brilliant. It just is.

by Anonymousreply 130January 1, 2019 2:09 AM

I would love David Lynch to explain the meaning of this brilliant film.

by Anonymousreply 131January 1, 2019 2:33 AM

Okay, this thread made me want to watch this again, so I am, on Amazon Prime.

QUESTION: When the guy goes toward the dumpster behind Winkie's and the homeless person pops out and scares hi and the guy collapses, are we to think the guy dies from fright, or just passes out?

by Anonymousreply 132January 1, 2019 2:35 AM

R71, MARY!

by Anonymousreply 133January 1, 2019 2:46 AM

I'm obsessed with this film. As a failed actor still living in Hollywood, I'm both fascinated and disturbed by it. The fairy tale version of Betty's Hollywood and the horrific grotesque version Diane lives in both ring true in the depiction of dream versus reality.

by Anonymousreply 134January 1, 2019 4:07 AM

R132 He died from shock. The Bum represents the evil that the protagonist has done by killing her rival. And the man that dies is the protagonist.

by Anonymousreply 135January 1, 2019 5:11 AM

A Sunset Boulevard is a much better film. It doesn't have to be 'abstract' to evoke a sense of 'horror'. It isn't elitist in that anyone can watch it and 'get it'. There's no need for multiple viewings to understand it, but can still be enjoyed on multiple viewings.

by Anonymousreply 136January 1, 2019 5:13 AM

R132 The protagonist organises the hit job at Winkies, hence this dream sequence is at Winkies.

by Anonymousreply 137January 1, 2019 5:14 AM

I think Lynch has talked about how Sunset Boulevard is one of his favorite films and this movie is a classic case of a filmmaker taking the themes and ideas of their favorite work and making it their own. These two really would make a great double feature. Whenever I happen upon Mulholland Drive on TV, I have to sit down and watch it. It's so engrossing.

by Anonymousreply 138January 1, 2019 7:01 PM

One of my favorite 5 movies of all time. Naomi Watts is absolutely amazing.

by Anonymousreply 139January 1, 2019 7:27 PM

A great film combo, aside from Mulholland and Sunset Boulevard and Mulholland and the (somewhat overrated) Persona is Mulholland Drive and Femme Fatale. I actually love Femme Fatale more than Mulholland.

by Anonymousreply 140January 1, 2019 7:36 PM

Femme Fatale is also about a "woman in trouble"--sort of. It doesn't have the same dreamlike vibe that Mulholland has, where the images seem to fade into and meld onto one another, but it has it's own hypnotizing allure. The way Brian De Palma films Rebecca Romjin stepping out of the bathtub when Lilly walks in mesmerizes me all the time. It has De Palma's best camerawork and like all other De Palma movies, it eschews characters for "figures", but that works amazingly well for the film. The movie barely has any dialogue and it grows on you with time. The only thing that I don't like about the movie is Antonio Banderas's acting. He sucks.

by Anonymousreply 141January 1, 2019 7:48 PM

The scene that kills me in MULHOLLAND DRIVE most of All is when Diane tells Ann Miller at the dinner party about her how she won the jitterbug contest and came to Hollywood. She says very frankly how the director she saw is isn’t like her and how Rita gets her work. Her admission of her crushed dreams are so plaintive. Ann Miller looks at her and murmurs, not sympathetically, “I know”.

My favourite scene is the audition, of course. Naomi Watts said it was her favourite in the script, the perform and in the finished product.

by Anonymousreply 142December 1, 2019 10:49 AM

Muholland Drive should be watched in a double feature with this:

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by Anonymousreply 143December 1, 2019 11:04 AM
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